A Longitudinal Examination of the Relations Between Moral Disengagement and Antisocial Behavior in Sport

Associations between moral disengagement and prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to summarize the available evidence on the extent of the association between moral disengagement (MD) and prosocial behavior (PB) and antisocial behavior (AB) in sport.

DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

Seven databases were systematically searched and literature screening. The CMA Version 3.3 was applied to estimate confidence intervals for the average effect sizes. The Q statistic and I-squared index were used to test for heterogeneity. Funnel plots, fail-safe numbers (Nfs), and Egger's linear regression were used to analyze publication bias. Sensitivity analyses were used to identify outliers, and subgroup analyses and meta-regression were used to test potential moderators.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine studies were included, and the results showed the negative correlation between MD and PB in sport was small in size (r = -0.22, 95 % CI [-0.30, -0.14]), while the positive correlation between MD and AB in sport was large in size (r = 0.53, 95 % CI [0.48, 0.59]). More specifically, MD was negatively correlated with PB toward teammates (r = -0.07, 95 % CI [-0.12, -0.01]) and PB toward opponents (r = -0.09, 95 % CI [-0.18, -0.01]), with very small effect sizes, but positively correlated with AB toward teammates (r = 0.43, 95 % CI [0.35, 0.51]) and AB toward opponents (r = 0.56, 95 % CI [0.49, 0.63]), with medium to large effect sizes. Subgroup analyses revealed that individualism-collectivism and sports type moderated the association between MD and AB.

DISCUSSION

Mechanisms of moral disengagement were more strongly associated with antisocial behaviors than prosocial behaviors in sport. In the future, there is a necessity to conduct further research on non-contact sports and different subtypes of antisocial behavior using high-quality study designs.

Linking Perfectionism with Moral Behaviors in Sport: The Mediating Role of Burnout and Moral Disengagement

Purpose: Research has identified a range of intrapersonal variables associated with moral behaviors in sport. However, research investigating how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents in sport has received scant attention. In the present study, we address this issue by examining whether perfectionism is associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport directly and indirectly via burnout and moral disengagement. Method: A total of 312 team sport players completed validated measures for each variable. Results: Path analyses revealed that perfectionistic concerns had a negative relationship with prosocial behavior toward teammates and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward both teammates and opponents via being positively associated with burnout, which in turn, was positively associated with moral disengagement. In contrast, perfectionistic strivings had a positive association with prosocial behavior toward teammates, and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents via moral disengagement. Conclusion: Our findings offer new insights into how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport, as well as highlight the need to consider perfectionistic tendencies and approaches to help reduce burnout and moral disengagement in the regulation of antisocial behavior in sport.

Narcissism and antisocial behaviour in sport: The moderating role of self-compassion

Narcissism, which features the chronic disposition to seek the opportunity to construct and maintain an inflated self, is a known risk for antisocial behaviour. However, knowledge of factors that mitigate the effects of narcissism on antisocial behaviour is lacking. In two studies we explored the hypothesis that self-compassion would protect against the link between narcissism and antisocial behaviour, such that narcissism would be less related to antisocial behaviour when self-compassion was high. Study 1 was a cross-sectional study with a sample of professional footballers (N = 208). Study 2 utilised a sample of competitive athletes from a variety of sports (N = 324) over an eight-month period. The data from both studies supported the hypothesis: Greater self-compassion was associated with a null (Study 1) or significantly attenuated (Study 2) relationship between narcissism and antisocial behaviour. We discuss the implications of the findings, including the benefits of incorporating self-compassion in sport settings.

Moral Disengagement in Youth Athletes: A Narrative Review

The sports environment can be considered as a context characterized by interactions typical of social groups, where children have the chance to learn good values. Positive and negative behaviours in sports, also called prosocial and antisocial behaviours, have been studied according to a moral perspective, as has doping behaviour, taking into consideration the concept of moral disengagement. Moral disengagement in children has been associated with maladaptive behaviours later in life, even though it should disappear with growth. Concerning the sports environment, previous reviews on the topic have extensively illustrated the role of moral variables in sport and their relation to antisocial behaviour and doping, positing some research questions that should be investigated in the future. Starting from these questions, the current narrative review aims to update literature about the effects of moral disengagement on youth athletes. Therefore, new studies about the predictors of moral disengagement are introduced, followed by contributions concerning the relationship between moral disengagement and doping and between moral disengagement and antisocial behaviour. Finally, the review summarizes which research questions have been solved in the last decade and which should be researched further on.